PLOT: Robert Culp and Ray Milland make their first Columbo appearances in this episode. Culp plays Investigator Brimmer, who is working for Arthur Kennicut (Milland). Kennicut suspects that his much younger wife is having an affair. However Brimmer's investigation shows that she isn't. Mrs. Kennicut then meets Brimmer later and Brimmer tells her that he had found a lot of evidence of her having an affair but kept it quiet. He tells her that he wants information, as Mr. Kennicut is a prominent man, so basically asks her to be a spy for him. However, she refuses and says she is going to tell her husband about the affair and expose Brimmer. As she goes to leave Brimmer tries to stop her and slaps her with his hand. After the struggle Mrs. Kennicut is dead. Though the death was not pre-meditated, Brimmer is fearful that the Police won't see it that way so he gets rid of the body. Columbo is soon on the case and notices that there is a big scratch across the victim's face. He surmises that the murderer must wear a ring. Then he turns up at Kennicut's house. Kennicut has hired Brimmer to assist the police in finding the killer, as he thinks very highly of him! Columbo makes up some cock and bull story about being interested in palm reading and examines Kennicut and Brimmer's hands. He notices that Kennicut doesn't wear a ring but Brimmer does. This leads him to believe Brimmer is the murderer. Then all he has to do is find a way to catch him. He does this by his usual brand of trickery. He stages a scene at the graveyard, where he has exumed the body, and says that one of Mrs. Kennicut's contact lenses is missing. He tells Brimmer and Kennicut that the other lense may be in the killer's car or at their home. Brimmer searches his house and can't find it. His car has broken down so he goes to the garage late at night and searches in the boot for the missing lense. Then the lights go on and Columbo and a group of detectives appear. Columbo says this proves Brimmer was the killer. The fact is Columbo had made the whole thing up. Both contact lenses had been on the body, but Columbo thought that the fact Brimmer was looking for the missing lense was proof enough. Brimmer admits he did it, though he didn't mean to and he hardly knew Mrs. Kennicut. After Brimmer is taken away Columbo tells Mr. Kennicut about how he joined the Police force to make up for when he was a mischevious youth, when he used to leave potatoes in people's car exhausts. As they leave the garage Kennicut does a double take as he realises that Columbo had done this to Brimmer's car, causing it to be in the garage in the first place!
VERDICT:
This is a good episode and Brimmer is a sympathetic murderer. He even offers Columbo a job with his company, though Columbo turns him down. It is a surprisingly simple case for Columbo, as he knows early on that Brimmer was the killer, because of the ring on his finger. Culp is in fine form, as is Milland. The only weakness is that the murder wasn't a premeditated crime.
Written by Mark Wilson
(C) Copyright Wilson/Young Enterprises 2006.
CAST:
Investigator Brimmer...Robert Culp
Arthur Kennicut........Ray Milland
Leonore Kennicut.......Pat Crowley
Ken Archer............Brett Halsey
Denning.................Eric James
Medical examiner........Don Keefer
Captain of detectives..Len Wayland
Ceil Gentry.........Lieux Dressler
